Uzbekistan: forced labour in cotton continues, rights defender confined to 'psychiatric treatment'/glyphosate alert
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 30 March 2017 20:45
- Written by editor
Leading rights defender confined to 'psychiatric treatment' for seeking to expose forced labour in Uzbekistan's cotton fields
Elena Urlaeva, head of the Human Rights Alliance of Uzbekistan and outspoken critic of forced and child labor in Uzbekistan's cotton sector, was detained by police on March 1 to prevent a scheduled meeting with representatives of the International Trade Union Confederation and the World Bank, at which she planned to discuss the problem of human trafficking in Uzbekistan. She was forcibly committed to a psychiatric clinic for "treatment", where she remains today.Urlaeva's forced confinement is the latest episode in a long history of state repression against activists working to expose forced and child labour in the cotton sector, where over a million citizens are forcibly mobilized to harvest cotton each year.
The IUF, the International Cotton Campaign and the International Labor Rights Forum are calling for the immediate release of Elena Urlaeva. CLICK HERE to send a message to the government!
This alert is posted on the IUF website here
European Chemicals Agency capitulates to agrochemical lobby on glyphosate
In a March 15 decision that violates the precautionary principle, scientific evidence and the European Union's presumed commitment to public health, worker protection and the defense of the environment, the Risk Assessment Committee of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) ruled that the toxic herbicide glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup, is not carcinogenic. The ECHA has 6 months to produce a report based on this decision which will relaunch efforts to renew glyphosate use in the European Union for an extended period.In Europe, the fight over glyphosate, and the wider struggle to rescue the food system from its addiction to toxic pesticides and destructive production methods, has come full circle to where it was one year ago. Public authorities have once more demonstrated the extent of their capture by the industry they are charged with regulating, while new evidence for banning glyphosate continues to accumulate. Sustained public pressure is needed now more than ever to take our food system off the pesticide treadmill.
READ MORE HERE. EU citizens can CLICK HERE to sign the European Citizens' Initiative petition calling on the European Commission to propose to member states a ban on glyphosate, to reform the pesticide approval procedure, and to set EU-wide mandatory reduction targets for pesticide use.
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Rampe du Pont-Rouge, 8, CH-1213, Petit-Lancy (Switzerland)
www.iuf.org
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter
Subscribe to IUF NEWS by e-mail
r34 r35 r18
